Father's Day at the beach

Yes, you read correctly. Joe suggested the beach as something to do for Father's Day. I about fell over and quickly pulled together snacks and a cooler.

Joe is not a fan of water. He didn't grow up around water and can't swim. On the other hand, Lake Beulah was Amy and my second home as kids.

We went to Carver Lake Beach and it was amazing. The beach was gorgeous and Mateo loved it. He showed no fear and splashed, sat down and dunked himself for about two hours. After some snacks, it was back in the water and even Joe mentioned that he's going to buy some swim trunks. My heart melted when I heard that!

After the water we went back up the hill to the playground which was fantastic. Mateo is getting really good at climbing and Joe and I are learning we're old as we climb up the jungle gyms after him!

Mateo fell asleep about 30 seconds after he was in the car and then proceeded to take a two hour nap. To make Father's Day even better, Joe went all by himself to Menards and Gander Mountain to "just look."

The MN Zoo

On Memorial Day Joe and I took Mateo to the MN Zoo because we were given free passes by some friends so we thought why not.

When I first moved to MN nine years ago, I went with Aunt Susie, Uncle Scott, Josh and Sammie and it was ok. Now, granted, I grew up going to the Milwaukee County Zoo which ranks right up there with the San Diego Zoo in my opinion so I have high standards.

So, what has changed in 9 years at the MN Zoo? Not much. My biggest issue is that you can barely see the animals and they have one animal - seriously - like a lion, a bear - it's just not worth the money in my opinion. I'd rather go to Como Zoo in St Paul (which is the "free zoo" - they ask for a donation - like $2 or something really small) now that is the place to go.

The highlight of the Zoo was the Dinosaur exhibit that we made an extra $8 to see - that made the whole experience. And do you know how cool my kid is? While the 4 and 5 year old boys were screaming and crying about the dinosaurs, my little guy would roar right back - it was beyond cute. So, here is our day in pictures.

See? 1 bear...

Digging for bones

1 warthog

1 cheetah...the animals are so lonely!

Had Mateo not pointed out the "baaaybbbiees"

we would have missed them

1 tiger

I'm glad we had the free passes because from now on, we'll stick with Como Zoo or the Milwaukee County Zoo when have WI visits.

Memorial weekend fun

For the past couple years we've headed to ET for Memorial weekend. We arrived in town late Thursday night and in true Nana and Papa fashion, they had all of Mateo's out and ready to go. Needless to say it was a late night because Mateo HAD to make sure all his toys were accounted for.

This year marked Amy and some others having a garage sale at Nana and Papa's. ET holds a city-wide (read 'village' for city) every memorial weekend so while Amy was busy selling, Joe and I were busy shopping. We actually didn't have as much luck as last year but that was ok considering Mateo didn't really need anything.

Nana got to spend some time with her boys (Mateo and Cash) and was in heaven. I was left alone with both boys for 5 minutes and my son saw the weakness and took full advantage. Needless to say there will be no baby #2 until Mateo either a) learns to listen (I know, I know - stop laughing) or b) get a couple years older.

Saturday we walked to the square for the brat burger thingy (the correct term is escaping me right now) and ate and listened to some music. We stoped by Uncle Mike and Aunt Ginger's on the way back and then hung out at nana and papa's the rest of the night.

Sunday we headed back to MN. It was a quick few days and I got a lot of Cash time, but not a lot of sister time so that can only mean one thing. Mateo and I will be headed back to ET in late July. And because I have the cutest boy and nephew in the world...here are some pictures of the weekend!

Yeah - Mateo's a weasel - poor Cash!

Ahh yes, that is my son!

Eating with big boys

The most handsomest nephew in the world!

Merry Christmas!

We were lucky enough to be able to take some time off and have a nice little visit to East Troy for Christmas. Nana and Papa hosted Christmas Eve this year and it was a blast! Mateo put on quite the show for everyone and was quite enamored with his cousin Mya.

Christmas day was pretty quite and relaxing and Mateo made quite the haul between Auntie A and Uncle L, Nana/Papa and Santa. However, Auntie A and Uncle L will be paid back at some point for the drum they gave to Mateo - not sure how or when but they will be paid back.

It's tough work opening presents

Family Pictures

Joe finally caved this year and agreed to family pictures. A friend recommended the photographer who came to our house!! It was so nice! Below are some of my favorites.

Halloween

The costume says it all...

4th of July

For Mateo's first 4th of July, we headed to ET for an action packed weekend of family, food and fun. Amy and I stopped at our friend Kari's to see her new, beautiful house, Joe and I had a double date with Amy and Luke to see Transformers 3 (and we were in the theater that served food - like we sat at a half moon table instead of how the theaters are actually set up), we had a party so the extended fam and friends could meet Mateo in person and we ended the weekend at Steph and Troy's for the parade! It was a blast!

Merry Christmas Grandpa, it's nice to meet you

Yes, this is the first time Mateo has met Joe's dad, Grandpa Ray because Grandpa Ray was worried about giving Mateo "germs." Grandpa Ray is very "old-school" and if you know Ray, this is completely in  character to say something like the above and it makes me chuckle.

Well, last night Mateo got to meet him and I've never seen Ray around babies so I wasn't sure how he (or Mateo) would react. Well, Ray was smitten by his grandson and we had a great time. Here are some other pictures from the rest of the evening (we were at Uncle Tony's and Aunt Brinda's). We're off to Great-Grandma Jo's this afternoon. Merry Christmas!!

 Joe, Mateo and Grandpa Ray

 Grandpa Ray, Joe, Uncle Tony, Cousin Anthony

 

Surprise, surprise!

Auntie Amy came to MN on Thursday and was planning on leaving Saturday morning. Friday night Amy mentioned that Mateo and I should go back to WI with her since we were planning on going to WI on Wed for Thanksgiving.

I said no because that would require lots of packing on short notice and Mateo was already in his room for the night. Well, Mateo had other ideas and Saturday morning he woke up at 4 am and wouldn't go back to sleep. I finally realized about ten to 5 that he was awake for the day and fed him and then he passed out in his swing while I was wide awake. So I started to pack and decided we would go home with Auntie Amy.

Now, Nana Sal and Papa Scott didn't know that we were coming home and going to be staying with them for a whole week, not just a couple days. Here are their reactions:

Happy Halloween

No trick or treating this year for Mateo but Daddy and Papa made sure he had a pumpkin...

Here are a couple of his Halloween outfits he's been sporting over the weekend as well...



HAPPY HALLOWEEN ALL!!